four food groups, where did you go?

Growing up, if you are of a certain age, we ate by the rules of the four food groups. It seemed, at the time, that it was the only food guide there ever was.  It was so simple. Divide your plate into thirds, to each section add meat, veggie, and a starch, drink a glass of milk and you had a balanced meal.

Now we have pyramids for every diet imaginable (even Primal Blueprint). It made me wonder if the four food groups were the first? It wasn't.


In the 1902, Wilbur Olin Atwater, Ph.D. published a USDA Farmer’s Bulletin called, "Principals of Nutrition and Nutritive Value of Food". Dr. Atwater stressed that it was important to have a variety of healthy foods, with proper proportions and moderation. An efficient diet included more protein, beans, and vegetables, limiting the intake of fat, sugar, and other starchy carbs.

In 1917, some sour wind must have brought in a new group of politicians because Caroline Hunt, a nutritionist for the USDA, wrote "How to Select Foods". It ignored Dr. Atwater's book completely. The government now had it's first grouping of foods. There were 5 groups:

1. milk and meat
2. cereals
3. vegetables and fruit
4. fats and fatty foods
5. sugars and sugary foods.

In the 1940's came war. With war there was a rationing of food and a new food guide. The National Academy of Sciences released the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) and the USDA adjusted it's guidelines accordingly. We now had 7 groups:

1. Milk and milk products
2. Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, peas and nuts
3. Bread, flour and cereals
4. Leafy green and yellow vegetables
5. Potatoes and sweet potatoes
6. Citrus, tomato, cabbage, salad greens
7. Butter, fortified margarine 

By 1956, there were many guides with conflicting advise. To end confusion, the USDA revamped the guide to introduce the 'square' meal. It simplified the food guide into the 'Basic Four" and added serving sizes.

1. Milk
2. Meat
3. Fruits and vegetables
4. Grain products 

In 1992 the USDA adopted the flawed and confusing 'pyrimid'. The grain producers were very happy for it, the weight loss industry was also happy for it. It kept up fat but giving the American people the wrong information.

Now it is 2010. I went to the MyPyramid site and no longer can you look at a diagram and see what foods you should eat. If you thought having 7 food groups were complicated, or trying to make a meal out of the 1992 pyramid was hard, hold on to your hat. Now we have 12 pyramids to choose from all based on the extremely flawed BMI.

It was 1902 and the USDA advocated a lower carb diet?? How did it happen that the USDA went from limited sugar and starch, to 11 servings of grains a day? Some say politics and money and they could be right (I am actually sure they are right). We are the fattest nation on earth and the USDA is helping us stay that way. I am very saddened by this.